Conjuring up smiles
by Vellaunus
Summary: It's surprising how much you can make people happy with a rose, some sleight of hand, and a smile.
1. A fresh start and an encounter

Weiss Schnee wasn't one for crowds. There were far too many people, and far to many opportunities to get knocked over or get turned around. It didn't help that the chatter of conversation could be almost deafening, and throngs of people made getting anywhere a pain. The heiress also tended to catch a lot of eyes in crowds, which was not something she relished. With her white hair, scar, and ever-present ensemble of security and servants, it was no surprise that others were intrigued. This was why she had come to Vale alone. Her parents hadn't been pleased, but eventually they had agreed. The area she was staying was quite safe, after all, and after promising to have her scroll on her at all times, the eldest Schnee daughter had left for Vale. After a long, somewhat turbulent airship ride, Weiss had finally arrived.

Beacon Academy. One of the best schools in all of Remnant. It hadn't taken much effort to convince her parents to let her attend. After all, this was a very prestigious school, and if the public were to hear the Schnee heiress was attending, it would only bolster the company's reputation. Once she passed the entrance exam (with flying colors) Weiss had been assigned a dorm and a roommate. The dorm was where she was supposed to be headed right now, but with the crowd of people it was difficult to tell where she was going. She gripped her suitcases tightly, keeping her head down and weaving through the horde. She could only hope she'd get out unscathed.

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><p>Ruby Rose wasn't one for crowds, either. The littlest Rose, unfortunately, possessed a habit of tripping over her own feet, and that wasn't the best trait to have when surrounded by people. Naturally, her heart fell when she realized her airship was landing at the same time as the one from Vacuo, doubling the amount of people she'd be forced to get through. Ruby sighed and picked up her duffel bag, her backpack already on her shoulders. As soon as the ship touched down, she hopped off and became instantly awestruck by the scene in front of her. Beacon Academy was much bigger than she could have possibly hoped, and a surge of excitement rushed through her. She had worked so hard to get in, and some part of her was only just now accepting that she was finally here. Suddenly unable to control her newfound energy, Ruby picked up her pace, almost running through the crowd. Unfortunately, this newfound speed didn't serve her well when someone swerved directly in front of her. Ruby tried in vain to stop, but ended up sending herself and the stranger tumbling to the ground. Even before she had picked herself up, Ruby was already gushing out apologies.<p>

"I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't hurt you! I didn't mean to run into you, I promise! It was entirely my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going, and then you appeared out of nowhere, and I really should have been going slower but I didn't and I'm so so sorry and can I make it up to you somehow because-"

"Watch where you're going next time." The strange girl cut her off, fixing the flustered Ruby with an icy glare. Without another word, she turned on her heel and stormed off, leaving a very crestfallen Ruby in the dust. Ruby stood there for a moment, watching the white-clad stranger walk away, then pulled out a map. She was supposed to be finding her dorm, after all, and had no time to waste if she was to work later that day. Seconds later, Ruby had dashed off again in a different direction, this time a bit more mindful of where she stepped.

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><p>Weiss had finally found her dorm and hesitated outside the door, wondering if she should knock. Her roommate was probably already inside, as Weiss had gotten sidetracked by the crowd and by the buffoon who had knocked her over. She reached out and rapped her knuckles on the door.<p>

"Come in." A quiet voice replied. The heiress pulled open the door to find a tall, dark woman sitting on one of two beds, a book in her hand. Her long, black hair was adorned with a large bow of the same color, and her bright yellow eyes were fixed on Weiss as she walked through the door. Weiss set her suitcases down, then extended a hand to her roommate.

"I'm Weiss. Weiss Schnee. You must be my roommate." Her roommate shut her book with an audible snap, then shook Weiss's hand.

"Blake Belladonna." There was a moment of awkward silence, with neither party willing to share more information about themselves. Weiss turned around and began unpacking, while Blake returned to her book. The room itself wasn't bad. There were two beds, a kitchen area, and a bathroom. Blake had already established her side of the room, so Weiss settled for what was left over. There wasn't too much to unpack, with the majority of her luggage just being clothes. Once she was done, Blake shut her book again, putting it down on her nightstand.

"Well, I'm off to work." Weiss wasn't surprised to hear it. While Beacon was liberal with its scholarships, it was still an extremely expensive school, so most of the students worked in order to pay their tuition. The academy was very accommodating about it, even going so far to fund the development of the city around it so more job opportunities were available to students.

"Where do you work?" Weiss asked, watching as Blake crossed the room to exit.

"The library." She replied tersely. "See you in a few hours." And with that, she was gone. Weiss sighed, her gaze drifting to the window. She didn't have much to do while waiting for Blake to return, and wondered if all her free time would be spent alone in the room. Her thoughts wandered to something her parents had mentioned before her departure. Despite the fact that she didn't need the money, her parents had set up a job for her in the city nearby, believing that most of her time would otherwise be spent cooped up in her room. Weiss previously had no intention of taking the job, but decided that she might as well investigate it while she had the time. After rummaging through her bag for the slip of paper with the address of her supposed job, she left the dorm, locking the door behind her. The Schnee heiress took a deep breath once she left the building, eyes fixed on the streets of Vale before her. This was really the first time she had ever been alone in a city before, and some part of her was worried. Then again, this was the sort of life Weiss had been dreaming of before leaving. Who was she to walk away from something like that?

After wandering the city for a while, Weiss found Vale to be quite pleasurable. The people were helpful and friendly, and there certainly were many shops that students were employed at. Weiss, however, had not yet reached her destination, and upon arriving at the street it was on, was surprised to see a group of people gathered around...something. She walked closer to hear a loud voice shouting,

"Now, for my next trick, I'm going to need someone from the audience." Weiss rolled her eyes as those watching went wild. Of course. A street magician. Still, the voice seemed oddly familiar. Weiss began to turn around with the full intent of leaving without watching, when the magician shouted, "You! The girl with the white hair and jacket! Will you be my assistant?" The entire audience turned to face her while she focused her attention on the magician. The magician was a girl clad in a black pantsuit with a red shirt underneath, a long red scarf wrapped around her neck. She wore a black and red mask reminiscent of a wolf, complete with ears and snout, that covered everything but her mouth and eyes. She wore white gloves to go with the suit, hands inside the gloves stretched out beseechingly towards Weiss.

"Sure." Weiss replied, in a rare moment of impulse. She wanted to experience the city, and this, after all, was a part of the city. The crowd cheered as she stood next to the magician, who shook her hand warmly.

"This trick is called...The guillotine!" The magician reached into a bag full of supplies and pulled out a strange looking weapon, which then unfolded to become a massive red and black scythe. The crowd gasped. "This is Crescent Rose, and while she isn't a guillotine, she'll certainly do the trick when it comes to beheading me." The magician handed Crescent Rose to Weiss, who almost stumbled underneath its weight. The magician then laid her head on a chopping block, waiting for Weiss to swing. "Whenever you're ready." Weiss paled.

"You can't be serious! I'll kill you!" The heiress exclaimed. The magician laughed.

"That's kind of the point of the trick. Don't worry about it, just do it." The magician reassured her. Weiss cast her gaze around the crowd, wondering if anyone was as worried about this as she was. She was only met with excited eyes, and some impatient ones. Resigned, Weiss swung the scythe downward. There was a flash of rose petals, and a head fell onto the ground, while the head of the magician was gone. Weiss-and half the crowd-gasped. Some people screamed. In another flash of rose petals, the head on the ground was gone and the magician stood up, very much alive. "Thank you, thank you!" Weiss dropped the scythe, astounded. It was a very impressive trick, and when she retreated into the audience, she dropped a few lien into the hat that was passed around for the magician. Rather than watch another trick, Weiss turned around and entered The Way the Cookie Crumbles, the bakery that bore the address she was headed to.

Weiss opened the door and was immediately hit by the smell of chocolate. She was met by a kindly old woman who rushed up to her as she entered, a white apron tied around her waist.

"Hello there, dearie. You must be Weiss Schnee. Please, come in and have a seat. I'll be going over the rules of your job with you. Don't hesitate to ask any questions if you have them." Weiss's job turned out to be simple. She was to keep inventory of all the baked goods, take them out of the oven when needed, and restock the display in the front when it ran out. Somewhat mind-numbing work, but it was better than staying at home, and she wasn't complaining. She bid a friendly farewell to the sweet old woman who ran the store, then left.

Weiss passed the circle of people around the magician yet again, but was surprised to hear the magician yell. "Wait!" She turned yet again to see the magician run up to her. With a dramatic flourish, she pulled a paper rose out of her sleeve, handing it to Weiss with a goofy grin. Weiss felt her face turn red, then turned and walked away as the magician returned the the audience, yelling, "Who wants to see more tricks from the amazing Little Red?"

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><p><strong>Well, here's a new story I figured I'd write. It's most likely going to be multi-chapter, though I don't know entirely how long it will be. I'll probably update weekly. I hope you guys like it. Leave a review if you're so inclined to, or if there's anything I messed up on in the story. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and his creative team.<strong>

**Thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	2. Life goes on

**Wow, only one chapter in and I've already gotten so much positive feedback! You guys are amazing! I'll do my best to make sure the story stays up to your standards. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy chapter two of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>Ruby didn't get back to her dorm until late that night. When she finally burst through the door, mask tucked away safely in her bag and suit unbuttoned and disheveled, she was met with a disgruntled Yang.<p>

"Sis, I was expecting you home ages ago. I was about to head out and look for you myself. I know you're new here, but it doesn't take that long to check out the town." Yang grumbled as Ruby tossed her bag onto her bed and flopped down next to it.

"I know, and I'm sorry, Yang!" Ruby replied, fixing her half-sister an with an apologetic gaze. "But there was a really good crowd today, and I didn't know if I'd get that many people to watch once school starts." Yang sat down next to her, ruffling the brunette's hair in a fond manner.

"You still think that whole magician thing's gonna work out? I can always try and get you a job down at the auto shop..." She suggested, watching closely for the smaller girl's reaction. It wasn't that Yang doubted Ruby's abilities, as Ruby had been honing her skills since a young age and had always shown a particular aptitude for magic, but performing in front of a city of people was different than doing a few tricks for her dad and the family dog. Ruby shrugged in response, and Yang tried to bend down to give her a hug. Ruby promptly jumped up and away from her sister.

"No way, Yang! No bear hugs until you wash up. You've been working all day, too, and you're covered in grease." Yang laughed.

"Caught me red-handed, sis. Or maybe I should say gray-handed." The golden-haired woman replied, getting up to wash off all the grime. "By the way, you might want to check your hair." Ruby reached up to find her hair covered in grease where Yang had ruffled it earlier.

"Yaaang!"

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><p>Classes at Beacon didn't start until about a week and a half after the students arrived. The reasoning was that this would allow the students to get assimilated into the environment, meet new people, and give them several full work days to get ahead financially. Weiss, having explored Vale to her heart's content on the first day, found herself alone in her room a fair amount. As for meeting new people, well, Blake didn't express much interest in her, and besides some brief, polite conversations they shared before and after Blake left for work, nothing spurred Weiss to find out more about her mysterious and quiet roommate. The only option left to her was work. Weiss returned to The Way the Cookie Crumbles the day after she arrived, and was pleasantly surprised to see the same magician from the previous day performing in the same spot. There was a slightly smaller crowd this time, but everyone seemed entranced as Little Red pulled a bouquet of flowers out of her sleeve, then made them disappear in a flash of rose petals. Weiss couldn't help but feel her mood lift after remembering the flower the magician had given her, and began her shift at the bakery in a decidedly pleasant mood.<p>

The magician was still hard at work by the time Weiss's hours were up, and the white-clad woman stopped yet again to watch. This time the trick was levitation, and Little Red's current volunteer, a scraggly, thin, blonde-haired boy squirmed and stuttered as he floated several feet above the ground. Weiss turned to leave before the trick was over, hoping to get back to the apartment in time to attempt to cook some kind of dinner. However, she had barely taken a few steps away before she felt a hand on her shoulder. The magician had stopped her again, and Weiss couldn't say she was unhappy about it.

"Um...shouldn't you keep an eye on your trick?" The heiress asked, pointing to the boy, who was still struggling to get out of the air. Little Red shrugged.

"He'll be fine. There's something much more important I want to address. There's something behind your ear..." Despite knowing that that line was one of the oldest tricks in the magician's book, Weiss couldn't help but be curious when the magician reached behind her ear and revealed...another paper rose. She handed it to Weiss, a wide smile on her face, before skipping back to aid the blonde boy, who was starting to panic at this point. Weiss examined the rose, smiling slightly, when she noticed writing on one of the petals.

_Thank you for being the prettiest assistant I've ever had._

Weiss felt her cheeks redden slightly and walked away a little faster than usual.

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><p>For the next few days, Weiss would go see the magician perform outside the bakery, and every day she would receive a paper rose with some sort of compliment. It never failed to make her blush, and considering the massive grin Little Red bore every time she presented her with the flowers that fact hadn't gone unnoticed. Weiss had to admit that her respect for the magician was growing. It took some serious skill to draw a crowd every day, and even as rude onlookers tried to yell out the secrets to her tricks or purposely throw her off, her smile never wavered.<p>

One day, having just finished her shift at the bakery, Weiss noticed a young faunus boy with an ice cream cone in his hand try to pull away from his mother to go watch, but she tugged him back into line with a bit too much force. The ice cream tumbled out of his hands and onto the ground, and the boy's puppy ears drooped. His eyes filled with tears, and it was evident that he was about to start bawling. However, the boy's plight had not gone unnoticed by Little Red, who promptly dashed over to him and bent down to look the toddler in the eyes. "Hey, don't cry." She said in a calming voice, smiling at the dog faunus. "Here, I'm going to perform a magic trick just for you, okay? Just give me your hand for a moment." The young boy, distracted for the moment by the appearance of the magician, gave her his hand, a puzzled look on his face. "Now make a fist." The boy complied, and Little Red waved a gloved hand over his fist. "You can stop making a fist now." The puppy faunus's eyes widened as he opened his hand, revealing five Lien. Little Red stood up, skipping back to her audience. "Now you can get another ice cream! Have fun!"

When the magician went over to Weiss to for her rose, the heiress had a question for her.

"Why?" The masked girl tilted her head to one side, confused.

"What?" She replied. "I'm not sure I understand what you're-"

"Why the flowers? Why the compliments? Why help that faunus boy?" Little Red shrugged her shoulders.

"Why not?" The response was so simple, almost childlike, that Weiss was caught off guard. It was only after she left that she realized that Little Red hadn't given her a rose that day. The heiress was somewhat surprised by how disappointed she felt. She chided herself for being so emotional. It was only a stupid paper rose. She shouldn't have expected the magician to keep up with such a ridiculous ritual. She walked back to her dorm in a much huffier manner than usual, and entered to find a large box of pizza on the floor.

"I got home late, so I decided to order pizza instead of cooking." Blake explained in her usual monotone. "Help yourself." Usually Weiss would complain about such a greasy, unhealthy food choice, but her mind was still on the absence of the rose. _What was it?_ She thought to herself. _Was it something I said? Something I did? What did I do to-_"Weiss?" Blake asked, snapping her out of her reverie. "There's something in your hair." Weiss reached up and pulled out...a paper rose. Relief washed over her as she turned it over to read the message.

_Your hair looks pretty today. And basically every day._

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><p>Blake liked the library. Her job required minimal human interaction and came with a lot of peace and quiet. The Vale library was stocked with plenty of riveting books, too. But there were some parts of her job that she could do without. To be fair, shelving books wasn't the worst thing in the world, but doing it for hours on end could get pretty mind-numbing. The meant that the black-clad woman was quite relieved when an odd woman decided to break the monotony by tapping her on the shoulder.<p>

"Um...Excuse me?" The woman asked, a pleasant smile on her face. She had long blonde hair and wore a yellow hoodie with an orange scarf. She had lilac eyes, unusual but not unheard of in Vale. "Could you direct me to the book..." She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and looked over it for a moment. "..._Motor Car Anatomy _by Franklin Pierce?" Blake nodded, leading the blonde over to the correct section of the library and bringing her cart of books left to shelve with her.

"There you are." She replied, taking the tome off the shelf and handing it the the woman. She turned around, returning her attention to the cart and picking up a book, when she heard the blonde-haired woman call out again.

"Wait! There's one more thing. Do you have _The Properties of Grimm_?" Blake shook her head.

"No. All the copies have been checked out for the start of the school year." The woman shrugged.

"Worth a shot." Blake was about to return to her job when the stranger pointed at the book in her hand.

"That's a good one." Blake was slightly taken aback.

"Excuse me?"

"_And Then There Were None. _That book you're holding. It's a good book, though not particularly to my taste." The yellow-clad woman continued, looking a bit abashed now. Normally, Blake would provide a simple one word answer and walk away, but she was so very bored and books were a topic she rarely abandoned.

"It's definitely worth the read. If you didn't like that, then you should try some Holmes." Blake recommended.

"Nah. I'm more of an action-adventure person. If you've got something with that with some mystery, that'd be great." Blake reached into her cart again, pulling out a thick novel and handing it to her. The woman scrutinized the cover, nodding slowly. "_The Da Vinci Code,_ huh? I'll have to try it out." She held out a hand, a smile on her face. "I'm Yang, by the way."

"Blake." The dark woman replied, shaking Yang's hand. Yang turned to leave, waving to Blake as she left.

"Thank you for the books!" The golden-haired woman tossed the words over her shoulder as she left, and Blake went back to work. So Yang had been looking for _The Properties of Grimm_? That meant she was probably another Beacon student. Maybe Blake would see her at school. For some reason, that idea didn't seem too terrible.

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><p>Blake returned home to see yet another rose on Weiss's nightstand and the heiress looking decidedly more cheerful than earlier that day. Blake had noticed a definite change in the Schnee's mood every time she returned home from work, but was never interested enough to ask why. Still, the buildup of roses was odd. Yes, her roommate may have been the heiress to a very wealthy company, but she had barely been in Vale for a week and she was already getting suitors? It seemed unlikely. "Where are all these roses coming from?" Blake didn't think she was imagining the bright pink that seemed to rush into the heiress's cheeks when she said this.<p>

"Oh, no one. It's nothing." The quick dismissal of her question and the continued reddening of the heiress's face stated otherwise, but Blake decided not to press the topic and instead pulled a box of macaroni from their cupboard, filling a pot with water and pouring the contents of the box into it. The water had begun boiling by the time one of them spoke again. "Classes start tomorrow." Weiss commented, fiddling with one of her paper roses as she sat on her bed. Blake nodded, stirring the pasta. "I hear they'll be putting us into teams. Is that true?" Weiss continued. Blake shrugged.

"I think it depends on what you're going to Beacon for. I heard they were pairing us with people who don't specialize in the same thing as us, for variety." Unfortunately, that was all Blake knew about Beacon's teaming system at that point, and the conversation petered out. Blake found herself wondering how the teams would be arranged. That golden-haired girl, Yang, might not be a bad addition. Then again, what was she doing thinking that? She barely knew the girl. Besides, did she really want someone on her team who couldn't even figure out the Dewey Decimal system? Blake sighed, unsure of what to expect for tomorrow. She could have a shot at a brand new life. She just had to hope it lived up to her expectations.

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><p><strong>It's been a tough week, so this chapter might have more errors than usual. I'm going to be pretty busy next week, so the next chapter might be a little late. Sorry about that. As usual, leave a review if you're so inclined to, or if there's anything I messed up on.<strong>

**Thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	3. The first day

**Not too much to say here! As always, I'm thrilled with all the positive feedback I've received from all of you, so thank you very much! I hope you enjoy chapter 3 of Conjuring up smiles.**

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><p>Ruby woke up the next day full of energy. She practically jumped out of bed and began rushing around the dorm to pack her things. Unfortunately, her excited state meant she was far from quiet, much to Yang's disappointment. Mornings were not necessarily the blonde's favorite time of the day, and with her little sister bouncing around like an excited puppy, it wasn't easy to stay under the covers and pretend she had five more minutes left to sleep. Especially when her half-sister started talking.<p>

"Come on, Yang! We don't have much time left!" Ruby whined, backpack already slung over her shoulders. Yang groaned and pulled her blankets over her face, blocking out the light Ruby had turned on.

"Sis, c'mon. It's the first day. Wait five seconds before badgering me, okay?" Yang grumbled. Ruby zipped over to the brawler's bedside with a pout on her face.

"That's exactly why I wanna get out of here early! We have to make a good impression on all of our teachers!" Upon seeing that Yang hadn't budged, Ruby decided to try a more devious tactic. "Yang, if you don't get up, I'm going to tickle you." Yang pulled the covers off of her face, fixing the young brunette with a glare.

"You wouldn't dare." A wide grin spread across Ruby's face.

"Oh, but I would, sister of mine. In fact, if you don't get up right now, you're going to be the victim of an all-out tickle attack!"

"Ruby, I will drop-kick you into the su-" Yang's words were cut off by a shriek of laughter as Ruby jumped on top of her, poking and prodding Yang's sides until she was almost crying from mirth. She was quick to roll out of bed after that, her hair disheveled and expression somewhere between anger and giddiness. "You're going to pay for that, Rubes."

Ruby went pale, then disappeared in a flash of rose petals, leaving a disgruntled Yang alone in their dorm. The brawler chuckled, then began packing. As much as she didn't want to get up, Ruby was right in that they didn't have much time to get ready, so the blonde had better get ready quickly if she didn't want to be late.

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><p>Since it was the first day, all students were required to attend a sort of orientation being held by Beacon's headmaster in the biggest lecture hall on campus. Despite the fact that it was gigantic, Ruby still found the lecture hall to be packed when she entered, and, as such, it wasn't unreasonable for her to quite literally bump into someone, right?<p>

Right?

At least, that was what Ruby told herself as she picked herself up off the ground, already stuttering out a thousand apologies to the unfortunate person she had knocked over.

"I'm really, really sorry! I don't know what happene-"

"Oh, not you again!" Ruby was caught off-guard by the angry response before her eyes traveled upward and she found that she had bumped into the same person she had tripped on the first day. The white-clad woman fixed her with an icy glare, hands on her hips, as Ruby's mind raced. This wasn't fair. Underneath a mask, where nobody knew who she was, she was suave and collected, but here she was stumbling over her words when faced with the girl she'd been giving flowers for almost a week.

"I...um...listen, could we start over?" Ruby stuck out a hand, forcing a smile onto her face. "Hi there! I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." The woman huffed and refused to take her hand, but she did respond.

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to Schnee Oil, a company I'm sure you know well." While Ruby was pleased that she finally had the heiress's name, she was far less excited by the cold looks she was receiving. She was even more alarmed when Weiss's expression changed to something akin to recognition. "Do I know you?" Ruby's eyes went from the floor to the ceiling to anywhere that wasn't the Schnee heiress's face.

"Um...Nope! I gotta go do something! Bye!" Ruby sprinted away from the now confused woman, careful not to let a single rose petal appear, unwilling to let Weiss figure out who she was. She made her way to the back of the lecture hall, where students were beginning to take their seats. She collapsed in a vacant chair in the corner of the room, sighing. What was wrong with her? What made her so afraid of the Schnee heiress knowing her identity?

"Is this seat...uh...taken?" Ruby was snapped out of her reverie by the same scraggly blonde boy she had done a levitation trick on earlier that week. She nodded glumly, and the boy sat down next to her, a shaky smile on his face. "Am I glad you said that! People kept on saying they were saving a seat for someone or that it was taken or that the seat was cursed so if I sat down I would get bad grades for the whole semester..."

The boy trailed off at that, a frowning for a moment. "Come to think of it, some of those people were probably lying. Anyways, pleased to meet you. I'm Jaune Arc." He stuck out a hand as he said this, and Ruby shook it.

"Ruby Rose." She replied, the boy's tangent drawing a small smile back on her face. Jaune's eyes narrowed as he looked closely at her.

"Ruby, huh? You look kind of familiar." A jolt of panic surged through the magician as he said this. Then Jaune shrugged.

"Huh. I guess it's just a weird coincidence." He continued. Ruby nodded. "Anyways, what are you attending Beacon for?" Ruby didn't have the chance to respond. At that moment, the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, accompanied by his second-in-command, Glynda Goodwitch, took their places at the head of the lecture hall. The room went silent within a few seconds.

"I'll keep this brief." Ozpin began, pushing his glasses farther up on his nose.

"You have gathered here from all over the world for many reasons. Knowledge. Power. Training.

But I look around at all of you, and all I see is wasted energy." Murmurs rippled through the room at that as students exchanged uneasy glances with each other.

"Not the most positive opener, is it?" Jaune commented, only to return to silence as Goodwitch silenced the hall with a withering glare.

"You all have potential, and it is Beacon's job to allow you to tap into it. Remain vigilant, work hard, and show caution. No amount of potential will save you if you cannot help yourselves." With that, Ozpin turned his back to the audience and left, leaving a confused student body behind him. Glynda stepped up next, clearing her throat.

"I know it's hard to remain positive after that...enlightening speech, but I promise you, children, we are on your side. There is no reason that any of you will not excel at Beacon. If you were to make a reason, however, that's your own problem.

I have been tasked with informing you about the Grimm. I am sure most if not all of you are familiar with the subject of the Grimm, but it's up to me to make sure you are all on the same page.

The Grimm is an epidemic of unknown origin, spreading primarily through animals such as dogs or bears. The virus is usually spread through physical contact or close proximity with those infected. Once an animal is infected, they will expand in size and develop spikes or plating made of bone, similar to armor. Their eyes will turn completely red, their claws will grow larger, and their fur will darken. They will become vicious creatures with an insatiable appetite for humans. As far as we know, there is no cure.

That's where you come in. In some way, all of you will be helping fight against the Grimm while you are attending this school. Some of you may choose to engage the infected in combat, and some may seek a cure. Whatever you opt to do, it is important to remember that we are united against a common enemy.

Now, are there any questions?" Glynda finished, scanning the room. A single hand was raised, belonging to a heavyset boy with a sardonic grin and light brown hair.

"Mr. Winchester?" The boy stood up.

"Can the disease be transmitted through faunus? I mean, they're basically animals anyways." Three of the boys sitting near him, presumably his friends, snickered. Glynda narrowed her eyes.

"Prejudice will have no place at this school, Cardin. But, to answer your question, there have been very few cases of humans-faunus or otherwise-carrying the Grimm. Now, unless there are any more questions, you may all go."

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><p>It had been a long day for Ruby Rose, though not necessarily a bad one. Most of her professors seemed to be dedicated to their professions, though some, like Dr. Oobleck or Professor Port, were a bit eccentric. Ruby had several classes with Jaune, who was quickly becoming a friend, and a few with Yang as well. Ruby also found that she shared many subjects with Weiss, and hadn't yet decided if that was a bad thing or not. She had made sure to sit far enough away from her to not be recognized, and was glad to see that she didn't have to worry about being ambushed at the end of class, as Weiss always left as soon as the bell rang with a tall black-haired woman.<p>

While Ruby walked back to her dorm, she caught a glimpse of Yang with the very same girl. Yang was holding a book and talking animatedly, while the dark woman seemed much less engaged, but had the beginnings of a smile on her face.

"Hi, Yang!" Ruby chirped, looking from her half sister to the stranger. "Who's this?" Yang started when she heard the brunette's voice, so wrapped up in the conversation that she hadn't noticed her younger sibling approach.

"Oh, Ruby! This is Blake." She gestured to the black-clad woman, who nodded to the younger girl before glancing at her watch.

"I've got to head to work. Goodbye Yang, Ruby."

"Bye!" Yang called after her, a smile on her face. Ruby nudged her, giggling.

"You haven't looked so starry-eyed since the price of fire powered rounds for Ember Celica dropped 3 Lien!" The brunette teased. Yang blushed.

"Shut up, Ruby. C'mon, let's go back to our dorm."

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><p>Weiss had a little more time than she expected after the first day of school. She had already gone over the syllabus for each class, and Blake had left for the library again. It was surprising how little she saw of her roommate, but that only made the heiress want to get out of the dorm more. Weiss decided to head out into Vale, and, after some aimless wandering, found herself outside The Way the Cookie Crumbles again. Little Red had a smaller crowd than usual today, and by the time Weiss left to explore some of the shops in the area, the magician had begun to pack up.<p>

Weiss had barely spent fifteen minutes inside a bookstore when she returned to the front of The Way the Cookie Crumbles, and was disappointed to find that Little Red had already left. Weiss was both annoyed at the magician for not somehow finding a way to give her the flower and annoyed with herself for expecting one. _There's no reason she should have waited for me,_ Weiss thought to herself, turning on her heel and hurrying away from where Little Red had been. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice something strange in an alley nearby.

Almost.

Weiss was surprised to see a flurry of movement in a dark alley, what appeared to be two large figures and a small one. The heiress would have brushed this off and gone on her way until she heard what sounded like a pained yelp. She approached cautiously, hands balled into fists, and the scene grew clearer. The first two figures were men, one holding the third figure's hands behind their back. The third figure was the most shocking. It was Little Red, her mask slightly askew as she kicked furiously. Unfortunately, it seemed she was at an angle where she couldn't kick the man behind her effectively, and the one in front kept his distance.

"Let me go-" Little Red's words were cut off by another yelp as she was punched in the stomach. The two men laughed.

"You know, street rats like you beg all day and get everything. Your begging here won't do you any good. I'm basically doing a public service by finally giving you what you deserve." One of the men said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Cardin's. He drew back his fist again. Weiss couldn't watch anymore.

"Let go of her!" She yelled, eyes narrowed and fists raised. The two men laughed.

"Please. You think you're going to stop us all by yourself?" The man holding Little Red laughed again, though this time he made the mistake of loosening his grip slightly. In a blur of red and rose petals, Little Red swept the legs out from underneath her attackers, their heads hitting the pavement with a loud thud. She kicked them both in the stomach, then picked up her suitcase full of props and clocked them both on the head. She flashed a shaky smile at Weiss, before doubling over and coughing. The heiress was instantly overcome with concern.

"Are you okay? What did they do to you?" She asked, some worry showing up in her voice. Little Red straightened up again, though she was trembling.

"I'm fine! They just surprised me and hit me a couple of times, nothing a little bed rest won't fix!" The masked girl replied, doing her best to remain cheerful. Weiss glared down at the magician's unconscious attackers.

"Fiends. If they ever try that sort of thing again-" Her gaze returned to the magician, who now seemed oddly familiar. "Hold on. Something's wrong with your mask. Here, let me fix it." When the heiress reached up to readjust Little Red's wolf mask, a look of panic flashed in the girl's silver eyes.

"No-wait-I have to-" She stuttered, getting more and more agitated as Weiss got closer. In a flash of rose petals, Little Red disappeared. A quick glance around the area revealed that she was nowhere to be found, and Weiss sighed, directing her attention to the only object the magician had left behind.

The heiress picked up the paper rose, turning it over to see the note the magician had left today. It was simple, only two words this time.

_Thank you._

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><p><strong>And there you have it! As always, leave a review if you're so inclined to or if there's anything I messed up on in the story. <strong>

**Thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	4. Initiation

**Wow, 65 followers already! Thanks a ton to all of you for the overwhelming positive support, and to everyone who left reviews! As usual, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.**

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><p>For Ruby Rose, the first few days of school passed without a hitch. It wasn't been confirmed that Cardin and his friends were the ones who attacked her previously, but it seemed as though he'd learned that it was a bad idea to go any farther than giving her dirty looks or pushing her in the hallways. The brunette usually found a way to give Weiss her rose for the day, whether it was meeting the heiress herself or giving the rose to Weiss's boss to be delivered to her upon the eldest Schnee's arrival to work. Still, Ruby wasn't entirely sure how to get the rose to Weiss on the days she didn't go downtown. The magician was stumped, until one of Jaune's friends, Pyrrha, brought up the matter of teams at lunch.<p>

"Teams?" Ruby echoed, the concept slowly returning to her. "I completely forgot about that." Nora, a bouncy redhead and another one of Jaune's friends, nodded enthusiastically.

"I hope me and Ren are on the same team! I mean, it would only make sense. He's a scientist, and I'm, well, I'm me!" Nora chirped, nudging the friend in question. Ren, a quiet boy with his black hair done in a ponytail, shrugged.

"I suppose it would be logical. Each team has to have two scientists and two fighters, after all." Ren added. Two paths were offered to those at Beacons. One could either become a scientist, devoted to developing the cure for the Grimm, or one could become a fighter, dedicated to beating back those that were already infected. The teams were set up specifically for fieldwork, so that scientists could gather data without worrying about fighting off hordes of Grimm. While it was true that everyone was trained in basic self-defense and basic science concepts, it was much easier to have people who specialized in either one. There were very few students at Beacon who had the capabilities of taking the path of a scientist and a fighter at the same time. Ruby Rose was one of those few.

"I hope I get on a team with some of you guys. Or my sister." _Or Weiss,_ Ruby thought to herself.

"I just hope the work doesn't get too hard. I'm already not very good at science. I don't know what I'll do if I get stuck with someone like Cardin to help me out." Jaune replied, a worried expression on his face. Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Jaune. I'm sure you'll do fine with whoever you get grouped with." Pyrrha reassured him, smiling. Jaune sighed.

"I hope so. How are they picking the teams anyways?" Jaune asked, scanning the table to see if anyone knew. He was only met with unsure gazes and raised palms.

"I guess we'll just have to see tomorrow." Ren commented, taking a bite out of his meal.

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><p>The next day, tensions were running high. The first year students were all hurried onto Beacon cliff, where they were each distributed a scroll. Everyone was understandably confused until Professor Ozpin, who had been waiting for them, began to speak.<p>

"I'm sure you've all heard about the teams that are being assigned. Well, they will be assigned right here, right now." The group of first years all began to murmur at that, and Ozpin held up a hand. "Settle down, everyone. First, let me describe the process. The fighters and the scientists will each be loaded into separate Bullheads. Then, they will all be dropped off at different areas in the forest with only your weapons, the scrolls you have been given, and a pouch. Your task is to meet up with someone who is the opposite class as you and collect a DNA sample from one of the infected roaming the forest to bring back here, in the best condition possible.

This is where the scrolls come in handy. The scrolls will make beeping noises that will get more rapid as you approach a member of the opposite class. This will help you find them, but will also attract more Grimm to you. Something else I must mention.

As soon as you find a member of your opposite class, you will be paired with them for the next four years." There was another round of grumbling and quiet conversation at that, which was quickly hushed again. "As for those who specialize in both science and combat, they will be allowed to choose which aspect to focus on during the initiation process. Are there any questions?" Jaune raised his hand, and Ozpin smiled slightly. "Good! Now, everyone board their respective Bullheads."

Ruby decided to board the fighter Bullhead. While she loved science, it had been a while since she'd fought any infected, and she was itching to get back into action. All the fighters were dropped off in the middle of the woods, as promised, and eager to get started, Ruby set off running as soon as her boots hit the ground. As promised, her scroll began beeping, and after a few games of hot-and-cold with the device, she was on track.

After running for quite a while, Ruby was beginning to think that she might have a defective scroll. She hadn't seen anyone yet, and the beeping didn't seem to be getting any faster. As she thought this, a beowolf dove out of the shadows, snarling as she pulled her scythe from her belt. A few decisive strikes later, the beast lay in two pieces on the ground. Ruby really wanted to find this scientist quickly. She could deal with a few infected on her own, but eventually the beeping might attract swarms, and then the brunette would be toast.

Just as she was thinking this, the beeping grew faster. Ruby's heart raced as she began running again. Who would she find? Maybe Jaune, or Ren, or even-

Ruby emerged into a clearing, finding herself face to face with the one and only Weiss Schnee. After a few moments of silence, the Schnee heiress spoke up.

"You." She threw the word out like an insult, looking none too pleased. Ruby didn't miss a beat.

"Me." The youngest Rose replied cheerily. Weiss crossed her arms, the look on her face reminiscent of someone who's smelled a particularly foul odor.

"You've got to be kidding me." The heiress continued, judging blue eyes flicking over the girl's small build and somewhat rumpled clothing. Ruby was a bit less indulgent this time.

"Nope! And if you want us to get back before dark, we ought to get a sample quickly." Weiss turned on her heel and stormed off before responding, the magician following behind her with a somewhat disgruntled expression on her face.

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><p>Blake was not having the best time. The scientist had brought her weapon, Gambol Shroud, with her into the forest, and had already run into several Grimm. While they would have all been perfectly fine specimens to collect a sample from, she couldn't do that until she met up with a fighter, and her stamina was running low. The dark woman was no stranger to fighting, but her forte was really in intellectual matters. Slicing up infected was not her job. Her scroll was not proving to be very helpful, so she decided to trust her senses more when it came to finding a partner.<p>

One or two more Ursai later, Blake finally heard what she was looking for. There had been plenty of gunfire while she was searching earlier, but these particular shots seemed much closer to her. Blake picked up her pace, surprised to hear what sounded like enthusiastic whoops coming from the trees ahead of her. A beowolf crashed through some of the oaks next to the scientist, and after a few more steps Blake found herself within view of an enraged Yang Xiao Long. The brawler stood there, panting, the ground around her littered with shotgun shells. Blake walked closer, until the golden-haired woman waved and jogged over to her.

"Hey!" Yang greeted Blake happily, a broad smile on her face. Blake couldn't help but chuckle softly at the fighter's sudden mood shift.

"Hey." The scientist replied, surveying the damage Yang had caused the forest. Broken branches were strewn across the ground, and several trees now bore cracked trunks. " I guess we'd better collect a sample from one of these infected." Yang nodded, then laughed a little. "What's so funny?"

"I guess I didn't need a book to tell me that one of the properties of Grimm is that they're fun to punch."

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><p>Ruby found being Weiss's partner to be a delicate ordeal. The brunette realized that Weiss had seen Crescent Rose during her trick, but figured that a small, strange-looking gun would be less memorable than a gigantic scythe, so she had resolved to using her beloved weapon in its gun form during the initiation. She also had to refrain from using her semblance, as Weiss could recognize the spray of rose petals as belonging to Little Red. At this point, Ruby knew that she would have to reveal her identity to Weiss at some point, most likely soon, and understood that her precautions to make sure Weiss didn't recognize her were somewhat ludicrous. At the same time, a large, irrational part of her wanted to keep up her facade forever.<p>

They walked in silence, Weiss unwilling to engage in conversation no matter how many times Ruby tried to talk to her. A beowolf emerged from the shadows after what seemed like an eternity, and after a couple of erratic shots, Ruby managed to dispatch it. Weiss seemed disappointed in Ruby's marksmanship, but in all honesty the brunette was much better at using her weapon in its scythe form than trying to shoot at it. Weiss approached the dead beowolf with her pouch at the ready, drawing a delicate looking rapier and using it to slice off a swathe of the creature's fur.

"We've got it. Let's head back." Weiss uttered the first words she had said in half an hour, and Ruby's expression lightened instantly.

"Yeah, let's go!" The brunette replied. After some more walking, the relative silence of the forest was interrupted by a loud screeching noise. The pair stopped.

"Was that..." Ruby trailed off, looking to her partner for assurance. Weiss nodded grimly.

"A nevermore. And from the sound of it, it's headed right for us."

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><p><strong>Well, that's another chapter! It's a bit short, but I'm a bit rushed for time this week. As usual, leave a review if you're so inclined, if there's anything I messed up on in the story, or if there's anything you want me to address in the next chapter.<strong>

**Thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	5. Initiation part 2

**Again, thanks a lot for the support! It's been another rough week, so bear with me if there are a few more errors than usual. I hope you enjoy this chapter of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>Ruby's mind raced. The young brunette had read plenty of books on the different strains of the Grimm virus before heading to Beacon, and she definitely remembered reading about nevermores. However, it didn't seem very likely that they would have time to think.<p>

"Come on!" Ruby grabbed Weiss's hand before the heiress could complain, pulling the heiress behind her as she broke into a run. After a few moments, the nevermore began screeching again, and Ruby's mind caught up with her.

_Nevermore. A strain of Grimm that spreads through corvids._

The nevermore's screeching was deafening, and grew louder as the creature approached. It seemed like the bird never drew breath.

_Status: Highly dangerous. Facing a nevermore is best in a group of 4 or more._

Ruby gripped her partner's hand tighter. Not optimal conditions, a scientist and a fighter who skipped a few grades, but it would have to work.

_Wingspan can be 20 times as long as the average human is tall._

Ruby could hear the flapping of those monstrous wings already. She dared not turn around for fear of slowing down.

_Nevermore attack with their beaks and claws, but their most dangerous attack by far is..._

The cries of the beast grew slightly less loud, and Ruby couldn't understand why. Why was the nevermore pulling back?

_...When the nevermore shoots out its razor-sharp feathers towards its prey to trap or skewer it._

Ruby's eyes widened as she remembered this information. As if on cue, she heard several thuds in the ground behind her as it was impaled with the feathers in question. Ruby had to make a split-second decision. In a flash of rose petals, the brunette and her partner were safely out of harms way, watching as the feathers rained down on the ground beside them. Weiss blinked.

"What just happened?" She asked, sounding a bit dazed.

"No time to explain. We have to get out of here!" Ruby yelled as the nevermore began to descend into a dive. This time, Weiss ran alongside Ruby as they weaved around the trees, though the heiress was considerably slower than the brunette. After what seemed like an eternity (though it was probably less than a minute), Ruby spotted what appeared to be an abandoned shack.

"In there!" The brunette shouted, reaching for Weiss's hand again and pulling her into the decrepit building. Once they were inside, the Schnee heiress bent down to catch her breath, hands on her knees.

"Are...you...completely insane?" Weiss's voice grew louder with every word, straightening up and fixing the confused Ruby with a furious glare.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Ruby asked, somewhat indignant.

"Nevermore are known to crash into structures to scare or crush prey! What are you doing bringing us in here?" The heiress had her arms crossed now, and spat out every word with unbridled anger.

"A nevermore would have to land if it tried to swoop this low, and at that point it wouldn't be possible to use its wings to knock down the building!" Ruby shot back. Weiss looked as though she was about to fire off another reason why the young girl was wrong, but after several moments, the heiress seemed to deflate, apparently out of arguments. In spite of herself, Ruby smirked a little. "Maybe next time you should thank someone for saving you before instantly doubting them!" Weiss's eyes narrowed even more, her fury apparently reignited.

"Excuse me?! You pulled us directly into the Nevermore's line of fire by deciding to run earlier, instead of waiting five seconds for me to come up with another plan!"

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like one, then!" Weiss whirled around and walked to the entrance of the shack in a huff, looking out into the forest before turning back to Ruby. "You want to prove yourself to me?" Ruby didn't answer, unsure of where this was headed. Weiss pointed outside. "There's your challenge."

Ruby walked over to the door, and was met with the sight of a pack of beowolves, their red eyes gleaming and teeth bared. Ruby hefted her scythe, still in its gun form, nodding.

"Fine. Beowolves are my specialty." She was preparing to shoot when Weiss shook her head.

"You can't shoot any of them. If the nevermore's lost interest in us, it could be brought back by the sound of gunfire." Ruby sighed. She couldn't keep up the facade for forever, it seemed, though part of her had hoped that she could wait until she and Weiss were at least friends before revealing her true identity.

"Fine." Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose into her full glory, then stepped out of the shack into the horde of snarling beasts.

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><p>Weiss was absolutely certain that there was something familiar about this Ruby Rose girl. The rose petals were already quite suspicious, but after seeing the scythe it almost seemed like her brain was screaming for her to realize who it was she was talking to.<p>

It happened while she was watching her partner fight. Weiss caught a glimpse of Ruby's face as she hacked and slashed at the infected, and something about the way the brunette was smiling made it all click. The rose petals. The scythe. Running away from her at orientation. It all made sense. Weiss had half a mind to storm out onto the battlefield that very second and strangle Ruby Rose with her bare hands, but instead waited until the girl was back in the shack.

"So it's you." Ruby blinked.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking abou-"

"Don't lie to me!" Weiss cut her off, unable to contain her rage. "It was you the whole time. The flowers, the compliments. It was all you." Ruby's face instantly fell.

"Weiss, listen, I-"

"Save it!" The heiress's voice was rising in volume, almost yelling at this point.

"Was this all a joke to you? Did you get some kind of sick laugh from trying to play with my emotions? Or did you only feel safe hitting on me with a mask on?" Ruby seemed to shrink, looking more and more upset as Weiss continued.

"Weiss, please-"

"I'm leaving. Don't follow me. And when I get back to Beacon, Ozpin is going to assign us both different partners. Because there is absolutely no way I will be working with you, Ruby Rose." Weiss whirled around and stormed away, leaving a very upset scythe-wielder behind her.

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><p>Ruby had no idea what to do. A large part of her felt guilty. She should have expected a reaction like this. After all, what kind of person would enjoy a bumbling idiot like herself flirting with them? Now she had blown any chance of a relationship-friendly or otherwise-completely out of the water. She should have told Weiss who she was right off the bat. Maybe she shouldn't have given her those flowers at all.<p>

The howling of a beowolf brought Ruby back into reality. She remembered with a jolt that the nevermore was still out there, and that even if Weiss was trained in combat, she wouldn't be able to handle the bird on her own, especially if more beowolves were nearby. Slinging Crescent Rose onto her belt again, Ruby sprinted out of the shack in the general direction Weiss had gone in, hoping that she would find the heiress before it was too late.

By following the howling of the beowolves, Ruby managed to locate Weiss just as the nevermore circled back. The heiress was doing her best to take the beasts down with her rapier, but the elegance and poise with which she fought was not suited for the erratic way the Grimm attacked. Even as she thought this, an errant strike from one of the beowolves' paws had caught her off-guard, and the heiress was knocked off her feet.

Ruby dove into battle, Crescent Rose unfolded and ready. In a burst of rose petals, the beowolf that had hit Weiss was sliced neatly in half. The other infected had not yet noticed this new threat, and Ruby took this opportunity to bury her scythe in an unsuspecting beowolf's back. The beast collapsed onto the ground with a satisfying thump, and the others turned to face their attacker.

The brunette smiled in spite of herself. She loved a good fight. As the Grimm approached, she swept their legs out from under them with Crescent Rose, then used the momentum to make a full revolution, slicing off the beowolves' heads as they began to stand up. Another beowolf was advancing towards Weiss, who hadn't made any move to get away, instead watching the scythe wielder as she fought. Ruby dispatched the beast with a carefully placed shot, then turned back to the remaining infected, still grinning.

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><p>Even though Weiss was still furious, the heiress had to admit there was something mesmerizing about watching the red-clad girl fight. The heiress was so caught up in observing that she didn't notice the beowolf advancing on her until the magician shot it in the chest, causing the infected to collapse. Weiss inwardly cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her. Ruby may have been interesting to watch, but that was no reason to let it distract her from the danger around her.<p>

Weiss retreated a safe distance away from the action until Ruby had decapitated the last beowolf. The red-clad girl approached her, the smile on her face disappearing as she waited for Weiss to address her.

"I..." What would one say in this situation? Ruby had saved her, that much was true, but Weiss was still angry that the magician hadn't told her who she was right off the bat. The sound of the nevermore screeching again interrupted whatever she had been about to say, replacing any thanks Ruby could have received with more yelling. "What were you thinking, shooting that beowolf?! The nevermore's coming back, and we can't possibly hope to fight it on our own!" Ruby raised her hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Calm down! I have a plan." Ruby replied in a level tone. Weiss scoffed.

"Really? Dare I ask what this plan is?" Ruby only smiled mischievously in response.

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><p>"This is completely insane." Weiss grumbled as Ruby shot at the nevermore, which had become interested in the pair again. "Completely insane! We're both going to die out here, and it will be entirely your fault."<p>

"You wouldn't be going along with this unless you had a better idea. There's no way we'll make it back on foot." Ruby pointed out. "I think he's starting to circle around." The brunette had led Weiss to a large clearing and told her to stay in the trees. She wouldn't tell the heiress what the entire plan was, only that it would get them back to Beacon as fast as possible and that it involved getting the nevermore's attention. So far, the bird had shot its feathers at them a few more times, but it looked like it was going to go into a dive soon. Hopefully that was part of Ruby's plan.

The nevermore was definitely starting to swoop down. "Okay, on my mark, run towards it, as fast as you can!" Weiss's eyes widened.

"Run towards it? Have you absolutely lost your mind?"

"No time to explain! Here it comes!" The nevermore landed in the clearing with a loud screech, beady red eyes focused on the scythe wielder. "NOW!" In a flash of rose petals, Ruby was clinging onto the tail of the nevermore, which was quite confused now that its prey had seemingly disappeared. Weiss's jaw dropped.

"You can't be serious!" The nevermore turned to face the heiress and pulled back its head, ready to strike. "You insufferable little red-" Weiss didn't have time to finish the insult, sprinting towards the nevermore's tail as the bird's beak snapped behind her. Once she was on, Ruby began firing shots repeatedly into the nevermore's back. Not nearly enough to kill it, but certainly enough to aggravate it a little.

The nevermore, unsure of where its prey had gone to and ruffled by the bullets, spread its wings and took off again, this time with two extra passengers clinging frantically to it.

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><p>Blake and Yang had already made it back where they had begun, and were waiting with the rest of the newly paired students and some of the teachers. Some of the pairs were perfect, such as Jaune and Pyrrha and Ren and Nora, but as more and more partners arrived, Yang realized that there were only two students missing.<p>

"I guess this means Ruby got paired with Weiss." Blake voiced what Yang was thinking, staring out into the forest.

"You know Weiss?" Yang asked, turning to her partner. Blake nodded.

"She's my roommate. How do you know her?"

"Ruby talks about her sometimes. According to her, Weiss is pretty and gets flustered easily, but from what I've seen she's pretty cold." Yang shrugged. "But what do I know? Hopefully they didn't do anything crazy out there. If they stay out much longer the sun will go down." As the brawler said this, a nevermore began approaching the cliff where the students were waiting. Some of the students began to talk worriedly, but Glynda held up a hand to silence them.

"Do not worry, children. We are well equipped to eliminate any threats the Grimm may pose to us. After all, since there are so many of us here, it only makes sense that we might attract some unwanted attention." She raised her riding crop, taking an offensive stance.

"You might want to wait on that, Glynda." Ozpin said calmly, taking a sip from his mug. Glynda fixed him with a confused look.

"And why might I do that, Ozpin?" She replied tersely.

"Because it appears that two of our students are on it." Sure enough, as the nevermore approached, the figures of Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose could be seen dangling from the tail.

"Oh my-everyone, please back up!" Glynda instructed as the nevermore began to swoop towards the students. With loud caw, the bird touched down on the cliff, where it was instantly swarmed by professors eager to defend their students. Weiss and Ruby dismounted, the former looking livid while the latter seemed to be in quite a cheery mood.

"Miss Rose. Miss Schnee. You two have quite a lot of explaining to do." Ozpin commented, smiling slightly.

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><p><strong>So that's that! Weiss now knows who Ruby is, and they both made it through initiation mostly unscathed. Leave a review if you want, or if there's anything I messed up.<strong>

**As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	6. Teammates

**Thanks so much for the support, guys! As always, the amount of follows, reviews, and favorites this story has gotten continues to blow me away. I hope you enjoy chapter 6 of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>Once Ruby explained the whole nevermore situation to Ozpin and Glynda, the latter seemed as though she was about to tear the brunette's throat out. Ozpin, however, simply looked amused.<p>

"Well, I'm glad you're both safe. Though next time you might want to consider a safer method of transport. Speaking of transport..." He gestured to one of the Bullheads, beginning to address the group at large. "It's been a long day for everyone, and I think it's about time we got some rest. Teams will assigned upon our return to Beacon." Everyone filed onto the airship, and many skirted around Ruby and Weiss, giving them odd looks and murmuring quietly as they passed.

Ruby flopped down in a seat, head in her hands.

"Ugh...I screwed everything up." The scythe wielder mumbled.

"What do you mean, sis?" Yang sat down next to her, fixing her half sister with a concerned look.

"I crashed a nevermore into the side of a cliff, and my partner hates me. One of the only friends I might have made at this school, and she wants nothing to do with me." Ruby continued, sighing sadly. Yang draped an arm over Ruby's shoulders, hugging the brunette close to her side.

"Hey, that nevermore thing was super cool! Nobody else would have thought of it, and you're not in trouble...Yet. Besides, when it comes to friends, you've always got Jaune and Pyrrha and the others! Weiss'll warm up to you." Ruby raised her head from her hands at this, fixing Yang with a hopeful look.

"You think so?" Yang nodded confidently, flashing the red-clad girl a grin. Privately, the brawler didn't think that Weiss was worth her little sister's time, but considering that Ruby was stuck with her, she didn't have another option but to reassure her.

"I know so." Ruby's gaze drifted across the airship, where Weiss was seated next to Blake. The two were busy talking, with Weiss looking furious and Blake appearing indifferent.

"How are things between you and Blake?" Ruby asked, and Yang shrugged.

"I like her. From what I can tell, she's a brilliant scientist, and she can hold her own on the battlefield too. She's also drop-dead gorgeous. But...She's really quiet. I have no idea what she's thinking half the time. She barely said a word to me on the way back here." Yang's smile faded for a moment before returning to her face with full enthusiasm again. "But something makes me think we'll get along fine."

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><p>"Weiss, you can't hate her forever. She's your partner." Blake said in a pacifying tone. The heiress huffed, crossing her arms.<p>

"Not if I have anything to say about it. I'm going to go straight to Ozpin and tell him he made a mistake." Weiss declared, icy blue eyes narrowed in anger. Blake sighed. Normally, she wouldn't have anything to do with the heiress's temper tantrums, but as soon as they boarded the ship Weiss had dragged Blake over to the closest vacant seats and began griping about her 'terrible disgrace of a partner.' Blake had humored her at first, but she was starting to lose her patience.

"Weiss, what is this really about?" Blake's question made Weiss stop mid-rant, her expression transforming from angry to confused.

"I-You-What on earth do you even mean?" Weiss shot back defensively.

"I understand that driving a nevermore into a cliff was reckless and idiotic and all those other things you mentioned. But if that's the only reason you were mad at her, you'd have stopped complaining five minutes ago." Weiss froze, and Blake got the feeling she was calculating her next move very carefully.

"I...I just...I..." She trailed off, then appeared to deflate. "Fine. If you must know, I learned that she's the one who's been giving me all those paper flowers. And since she's such a child and treats everything like it's some big joke, those flowers were probably a joke too." Weiss finished, her eyes trained on the ground. Blake sat back in her seat, sighing. Her gaze drifted across the room, where Yang had a struggling Ruby in a headlock. Ruby attempted to break free for a few seconds before going limp. Yang released her, and the two broke out in laughter, shoving each other playfully.

"Weiss, for all her faults, I don't think Ruby's a bad person. She's childish, like you said, but she's never actually shown any malice towards you or, as far as I know, anyone. I don't think she's the kind of person who would toy with your emotions like that. I don't really know why she was giving you those flowers, but I don't think she meant anything bad by it." Blake chose each word carefully, and Weiss seemed somewhat calmed down by the end of it.

There was something else nagging at the dark woman, though. Something she wasn't about to mention just yet, but something definitely noticeable. The black-clad woman had watched Weiss brush off people like Cardin without giving them a second glance, but suddenly this Ruby Rose girl had gotten under her skin with ease? Also, it was worth noting that while Weiss ridiculed Ruby's idea to ride the nevermore with vehemence, the white-haired girl had, in fact, gotten on board with the idea just enough to ride the infected all the way back to Beacon.

A small smile crossed Blake's face. It seemed that the heiress might not be as cold hearted as she seemed. Although, if Ruby was going to have any chance in breaking through that icy exterior, it would take a lot of hard work.

Blake's train of thought was cut off by an announcement over the airship's intercom.

"We are approaching Beacon and will be landing shortly. Please remain seated until the airship comes to a complete stop."

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><p>The students left the airship and were immediately ushered into the same lecture hall their orientation had been held in. Ozpin made his way to the front of the room and began to speak.<p>

"You will now be organized into teams. Please listen closely and step up to the front of the room once your name is called." The students stepped up to the front of the room, were assigned a team leader and a team name, then left. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren were assigned a team, led by Jaune and called team JNPR. Ruby gave Jaune a thumbs up as he left, and he returned with a shaky smile. Finally, it was their turn.

"Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you will be called team RWBY. Led by...Ruby Rose." Ruby gasped, and Yang wasted no time before tackling her with a hug. Ruby had never expected to even get into this school so early, never mind become team leader. Once Yang released her from the hug, Ruby could have sworn she saw Blake smile a little. However, her attention was drawn more to Weiss. The heiress's expression was dark, and as soon as the next team was called up, the white-clad girl turned on her heel and stormed out without a word. Ruby sighed sadly.

"Don't worry about it." Yang reassured her as they left. "She's just jealous." Ruby watched the heiress go with a forlorn look.

"I hope you're right..." The three girls began to walk back to their dorm in silence. They were just passing another dorm building when two familiar figures emerged from it, jogging towards them and waving.

"Hello!" Pyrrha said cheerily, followed by a smiling Jaune. "We were hoping we'd catch up to you. Ren and Nora are making pancakes in Jaune's dorm, and we were wondering if you wanted to join us."

"You'd better decide soon, though." Jaune added. "Or Nora will drink all of the syrup."

Yang and Ruby both nodded in agreement, but Blake shook her head.

"Sorry, but I should get back. I have some reading to do before school tomorrow, and Weiss won't like it if I stay out too late." Everyone bid Blake goodbye, and the black-haired girl began to walk away. However, she hadn't taken many steps before she was stopped by an insistent Ruby.

"What is it?" Blake asked, somewhat confused. Ruby had her eyes fixed on her boots, and appeared a little uncertain of what she was about to say next.

"I know it's kind of a strange request, but I was wondering if you could maybe...Give this to Weiss for me?" Ruby asked hopefully. Blake blinked.

"Give what to Weiss?" With that, Ruby reached into Blake's bookbag and pulled out a rose, a small smile on her face. Blake nodded.

"Impressive. I'll make sure this gets to her." Ruby's face lit up.

"Really? Thank you so much, Blake!" The brunette chirped.

"Ruby! Are you coming or not?" Yang called from where the others were waiting. Ruby turned around and ran, still yelling her praise for Blake over her shoulder. Blake smiled begrudgingly. Despite her childishness, Ruby was a good kid.

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><p>Weiss paced around her dorm, fuming. She genuinely could not believe the decisions that the Beacon administration had made. Making Ruby the team leader? How absurd! Ruby was a child, for heaven's sake! Weiss sat down, then instantly stood up again. Her mind was made up. She would go directly to Ozpin and Glynda, demand a change in partnership (or at least a change in the leadership of the team) and then get this all sorted out. She stormed over to the door, fully intent on leaving, when it was opened by Blake.<p>

"Someone's upset." Blake commented, taking in Weiss's angry appearance. Weiss tried to compose herself in vain.

"If you must know, I'm heading to Beacon's administration right now to get this whole mess sorted out. It's absolutely ludicrous, the way this team has been arranged." Blake raised her eyebrows.

"Well, don't let me stop you. Just let me give you something first."

"What could you possibly have to give me that's more important than-" Weiss stopped dead when Blake handed her the rose. The heiress almost seemed ready to explode.

"Of all the most impertinent, childish things-" Weiss was cut off again when Blake turned the rose around. Written on the back were three words.

_Sorry about today._

Weiss seemed to lose steam as Blake watched. She took the rose and sat back down on her bed. Blake resisted the urge to laugh. It seemed that the heiress had fallen for this girl hard if a single rose managed to derail her so quickly.

"So, about that trip to Beacon's administration...?" Blake prompted her blushing teammate. Weiss blinked, apparently confused.

"What? Oh, that. Forget about it. You've seen the way Ozpin works. He probably wouldn't change it even if he wanted to. There's no point in going." At least, that was what Weiss told herself as she placed the rose along with all the others she had received. There was no other reason she wanted to keep Ruby as a partner. It wasn't like she found the magician charming in any way, right? Weiss went to bed that night with a multitude of confusing thoughts in her head, most of them about a certain Ruby Rose.

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><p><strong>And that's that! Please leave a review if you're so inclined, or if I messed up on anything.<strong>

**As always, thank you for reading and have a great day.**


	7. A budding friendship

**Wow! Over 100 followers already? Seriously, you guys are really great. This story wouldn't have gotten as far as it has without all your words of encouragement. Thank you so much, and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>The next week of classes consisted of more introductory material, though many teachers were beginning to transition into the harder parts of the curriculum. Ruby, as luck would have it, shared many classes with her teammates, being split between fighting and science. Yang was always happy to go hand-to-hand against her sister, though Ruby could give her a run for her money when they were using their weapons. Both sisters were somewhat wary around Nora, whose advantage came from her unpredictability. Pyrrha was a wild card as well. Everyone in the class had been absolutely flattened by the red-haired woman at least once, and nobody could tell if the times they had beaten her afterward were simply Pyrrha going easy on them.<p>

When it came to science classes, Ruby was the odd one out when they were assigned lab partners. She tended to split up her time between her friends in team JNPR and her other teammates, focusing more heavily on the latter. When she worked with Jaune and Ren, she found that she and Jaune ended up goofing off most of the time and Ren did all the work, which Ruby felt guilty about. Despite the fact that Ruby liked having fun, she had gotten lucky being allowed to attend the school as early as she did, and didn't want to squander the opportunity. Besides, both Jaune and her could use some more practice when it came to science. Especially Jaune. The poor fellow broke a test tube almost once every class, whether they were doing a lab that day or not.

When it came to team RWBY (or team RWB, to be more specific) Weiss was proving to be the harder nut to crack, though that was no surprise to anyone. Blake was stern too, but more likely to flash a quick smile when Ruby made a joke. And boy, was Ruby full of those.

"Hey guys, what do you call a substance you can't figure out through testing? A chemystery!"

"So helium walks into a bar. The bartender says, 'We can't serve you.' Helium doesn't react."

"One atom bumps into another. They say, 'I've lost my electrons!' The other one says, 'Are you sure?' 'Yes, I'm positive!'" That one got Blake to chuckle a little, an all-time best for Ruby, though for whatever reason Yang could get Blake to smile within minutes of the two meeting up. Weiss was stubbornly avoiding Ruby as best she could, but the team leader was determined to get on the heiress's good side. Surprisingly enough, it was working.

While Ruby did have a tendency to doze off during lectures, Weiss was genuinely surprised by the brunette's aptitude for science. She grasped certain concepts with ease that left Weiss baffled, and at one point the eldest Schnee found herself in an argument of sorts with the magician about a certain topic.

"I just don't understand it. How can the cat be alive and dead at the same time?" Weiss muttered. For whatever reason, this discussion seemed to put Blake slightly on edge, so the heiress was left asking Ruby. Ruby sat back in her chair a smile on her face as she patiently explained.

"It's simple, Weiss! Once Schrodinger's cat goes in the box, you don't know if it's alive or dead. That means that it's not alive or dead. It's in a suspended state where it's both!" Weiss's frown grew more pronounced.

"But that doesn't make any sense." Ruby shrugged at this point, leaning forward and beginning to draw on her paper.

"It's just an analogy to explain how electrons are particles with wave properties. It's supposed to make things easier." Weiss glanced at Ruby's paper, where she had doodled a cartoon cat stuck in a box. The brunette had hardly taken any notes. Weiss had to say she was impressed and disapproving at the same time. Ruby seemed absentminded most of the time, but as much as Weiss hated to say it, she was very talented at remembering science. Still, she should take more notes.

"Focus on the lecture." She snapped, finding nothing else to say. Even with her unreasonable anger, Ruby's smile never wavered.

"You got it, Weiss!" The magician replied as professor Peach droned on about the visible light spectrum. As boring as the lectures were, the labs were certainly exciting. They had already done two this week, and while they were introductory, professor Peach had told them that they would start actual experimentation soon, with real Grimm DNA samples! Ruby couldn't wait, and while Blake and Weiss tried to mask their excitement with indifference or frustration, she could tell they were excited too.

The bell rang shortly after professor Peach finished the lecture. The professor certainly had an aptitude for finishing the classes right on time...Unlike another teacher. "Ugh, I'm off to professor Port's again." Ruby grumbled as she packed up her books. "You guys have to take Grimm Studies too, right? Does he bore you guys with tales of his hunts too?" As usual, Weiss didn't reply. Blake usually sped off as soon as the bell rang-her next class was on the other side of the campus, and she had to act fast if she was going to get there on time. Weiss, however, was always accompanied by a chattering Ruby whenever she left class. She just couldn't seem to shake her off, though, to be fair, she hadn't tried that hard.

Ruby had made a significant effort to get back into Weiss's good graces. One way or another, she always got Weiss's rose to her every day, and the compliments, while less over the top and dramatic, were more personalized, which she enjoyed. As previously mentioned, Ruby tended to walk with Weiss whenever they left chemistry, and also did most of the talking. After realizing the heiress wasn't going to hold up her end of the conversation, Ruby had taken to talking for the two of them. While irritating at first, Weiss had to say she had grown fond of the babbling. It was comforting, in a way.

"Today's class was hard! Theoretical chemistry was something I thought I was good at, but I'm really not sure about it now...I wonder how hard the test will be?"

"I met one of the upperclassmen the other day! Her name's Velvet, and she's genuinely one of the cutest people I've ever met. She's a bit quiet too, kind of like you, but it's a different kind of quiet...More peaceful, I guess. Not to say you're not peaceful in your own way!"

"Yang's been heading to the library a lot...The one in downtown Vale, not the school one. I wonder why. Wait, Blake works at the library, right?"

"Well, this is where we part ways, I suppose." Ruby stopped in front of professor Port's lecture hall, turning on her heel to face Weiss. She bowed in a joking fashion, stating in an overdramatic voice, "Until we meet again, my fair lady. But until then, a rose for a princess." With that, she pulled a paper rose from her hood and handed it to Weiss, darting inside her Grimm Studies class. Weiss turned it over. Scribbled on the back was a drawing of a cat with a heart next to it.

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><p>The first test of Grimm Studies was tomorrow, and despite her seemingly effortless grasp on the subject, Ruby was nervous.<p>

"I don't see why you don't just ask her to study with you." Yang mentioned during a sparring match. "I asked Blake and she said yes! It's that easy." The brawler continued, throwing a punch at Ruby's stomach. Ruby twisted away and aimed a fist at her sister's head, one which Yang dodged easily.

"It's not that simple with Weiss." Ruby replied, sidestepping another one of her half-sister's powerful punches. "I think she's still angry at me. She doesn't talk to me very much." The brunette finally made contact with Yang's shoulder and was disappointed to see the blonde stumble only a little before attempting another hit aimed at her chest.

"I think you should try. You might be surprised." In one fluid move, Yang swept Ruby's feet out from under her. The magician hit the floor with a thud, and Yang smiled, extending a hand towards Ruby to help her up.

"Good match."

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><p>Weiss and Blake were walking back to their dorm when it happened. Blake glanced at her watch, eyes widening slightly.<p>

"It's later than I expected." She noted. "I should get going." Weiss tilted her head to one side.

"Where are you going?" Blake pulled her bag higher over her shoulder.

"I'm going to study for the test tomorrow with Yang. She's not the best at Grimm Studies, and wanted me to help her out." The dark woman explained. "Are you going to study with anyone, Weiss?" Blake asked, eyes flashing as she fixed the heiress with an inquisitive glare. Weiss felt like a deer in headlights.

"No...I...I study better on my own." Weiss stuttered out, mentally chastising herself for stumbling over her own words. It was true to some extent, but at the same time Weiss didn't know if she was better on her own or not. She had never really had anyone around to help her study before. Anyways, there was no point in fretting about that now. Besides Blake, there was really only one person she would want to study with.

Like clockwork, one Ruby Rose appeared, sprinting towards Weiss with her backpack slung over her shoulders.

"Hi Weiss! Hi Blake!" The magician greeted the two, a broad grin on her face. "Um...Weiss, I was going to ask you something, if you didn't mind..." Blake's eyes widened slightly.

"I'll leave you two to it." The black-haired woman commented, disappearing into the shadows without another word.

"Anyways, Weiss, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe...Study with me?" Ruby asked, a hint of nervousness showing in her voice.

"Yes." Weiss blurted out. Ruby's face brightened instantly.

"Really?" The heiress blushed, glad it was dark so Ruby couldn't see the reddening of her face.

"I...Don't think anything of it, okay? It's just that I study better with someone else." Weiss added in an attempt to keep her cool. Ruby was undaunted.

"All right! Come on, we should get to the library before it closes!" Ruby grabbed Weiss's hand, dragging a flustered heiress off into the night.

Overall, it was a rather fruitful session. Weiss found that she did in fact study better with someone else, and while she spent most of the time chastising the magician for her immaturity and almost wrote down 'Ruby' as one of the answers to a question, they both got good grades on the test anyways. At least, in Ruby's opinion.

"Weiss, what are you so upset about? You got a 98!" Weiss's expression was a bit more sour than usual.

"Yes, a 98! That's two whole points that I shouldn't have gotten wrong. I should have known better." The heiress grumbled angrily.

"Hey, you got a really good grade, okay? And you'll know for next time!" Ruby reassured her, making a silent promise not to reveal her perfect score to her teammate.

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><p><strong>And there we are! Sorry if this seems like a bit of a filler chapter. I just want to show the progression of their relationship a little before I start getting into the more major events. Anyways, as always, leave a review if you're so inclined to or if there's anything I messed up on. I hope you all have happy and safe holidays, whatever you may celebrate at this time of year.<strong>

**As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	8. Tensions rise

**I can't believe it's been 8 chapters already! As usual, thank you all for the positive feedback. It really means a lot to me. As 2014 comes to a close, I hope you all enjoy this chapter of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>Being Ruby Rose's partner was an adventure, to say the least. The teachers had been stressing team unity a lot, and as the team leader, Ruby had taken that to heart. They had team classes once every week, mostly out in the field. The scientists had to perform an experiment out in the wild or collect a DNA sample, and the fighters had to protect them. Usually there was some sort of twist to the missions to make it more difficult. For example, there was one mission where the teams had to send up a flare every ten minutes. The pretense for this was that it would let the teachers monitoring them know where they were, but everyone knew it was just to attract more Grimm to the area.<p>

Ruby did her best to maintain a sense of team unity. They were getting deeper into the school year at this point, and the brunette had organized team study sessions for them. Yang tended to fall behind in the examinations that required memorization, which baffled Weiss. At one point, Ruby had dragged the heiress to the auto shop where Yang worked as an 'exercise in partnership,' and the eldest Schnee had been amazed to see the brawler name everything under the hood of a truck and what all the parts did. It seemed that Yang had more of a head for mechanics than what characteristics a King Taijitu had.

Weiss herself was excellent at what seemed to be the most boring subjects, most likely because she was the most willing to devote her time and energy to mastering the courses. However, combat was something she found difficult. When Yang first mentioned it to her in her usual brash manner, the heiress had exploded at her, resulting in a fight that took several days to diffuse with much help from Ruby and Blake. The former was much gentler with her fighting tips upon realizing that Weiss greatly disliked being told what to do, and under her careful coaching, was beginning to improve. The heiress was much more suited for formal fighting, and found it difficult to 'follow her gut' the way Ruby told her.

For a while, Ruby's grades remained a mystery. The magician refused to show the heiress her tests and essays, and at first Weiss thought that it was because she was doing poorly. It was for that reason that the heiress was harshest on her when it came to studying. Ruby, of course, went along with it with a smile, but some of her behavior worried Weiss greatly. Mostly, it was the dozing off. Too often would Weiss look up from her papers to see Ruby slumped over the table, fast asleep. Every time this occurred, Weiss would rouse the brunette with a long lecture and an even harsher studying session. However, the most recent time she found Ruby asleep, Yang had pulled Weiss aside right before she was about to wake the magician.

"What?" Weiss snapped angrily.

"I think you should be a little less hard on Ruby." The brawler replied in an uncharacteristically gentle voice. The heiress fixed her with a stern glare.

"Why should I? Her poor grades will bring down the whole team if we don't do something, and how will she learn if she's asleep the whole time?" Yang held up her hands in the middle of the eldest Schnee's rant, trying to cut her off.

"Hold on. What poor grades?" Weiss put her hands on her hips, huffing slightly.

"She never shows me her tests or quizzes, or any of her papers. You're her sister, you must know about this." Yang frowned.

"Wait here for a second." The blonde brawler walked over to her still sleeping sister, carefully unzipping her backpack and taking out her chemistry binder, flipping through it. "Yep. Just as I thought. You should see this, Weiss." The heiress snatched the binder from her, eyes widening. She was met with the sight of perfect score after perfect score, with only a few points off the occasional project.

"I can't believe this..." Weiss muttered under her breath as Yang took the binder back. Yang smiled a little.

"You see? She's doing fine. As for the sleeping problems...There's not much she can do about it. Ruby's always had a...tough time staying asleep. Considering how tired she must be throughout the day, I wouldn't begrudge her a quick nap or two." Weiss nodded, her gaze already drifting back to her sleeping partner.

The next day, as Ruby was presenting Weiss with her rose, the heiress had something to give to the magician as well.

"Weiss, what's this?" Ruby asked as the eldest Schnee shoved something into the brunette's hands. Weiss was flushing madly as she began to explain.

"It's an eye mask. To help you sleep. It's got beowolf eyes on it, since you said beowolves were your specialty, and you wear a wolf mask, and..." Weiss grew more and more flustered as Ruby broke into a smile. "Don't overthink it...It's just a present." She mumbled as the scythe wielder wrapped her up in a hug.

"Thank you so much, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, beaming.

"Shut up, don't touch me..." Weiss muttered. Even as she said this, she hugged Ruby closer.

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><p>Something the team missions made very apparent was that Blake was an amazing fighter. During one mission, a stray ursa dodged Ruby's scythe and Yang's punches to approach the scientists, and Blake cut it to ribbons within a matter of seconds. One day, Blake almost bested Yang in hand to hand combat, leaving everyone speechless. The more Weiss learned about her reclusive roommate, the more she realized she didn't know.<p>

One weekend Weiss came back to the dorm to find Blake standing next to Yang and a pile of books.

"Hey Yang! What are you doing here?" Ruby asked. The magician had been determined to walk Weiss back to her dorm once the heiress's shift was over, and was pleased to see her sister in the room.

"They were giving away books at the library." Yang explained. "Blake wanted me to help carry them back. Right now she's trying to fix the broken spines." Weiss raised her eyebrows.

"And you know how to do that, Blake?" Blake shrugged.

"Of course." It was coming to the heiress's attention all of the things Blake could do that they had no idea about. According to Yang and Ruby, Blake could drive a car, truck, and allegedly a train, and yet she didn't have a license for any of those things. She could also knew the names of most of the cops in Vale, yet never greeted them when they passed by. Ruby swore that Blake made the best dark chocolate muffins she had ever had, and one more detail about Blake leaked out during a team game night (another teambuilding exercise Ruby had devised).

"She's a great kisser!" Yang declared. That note elicited a blush from Blake, and a laugh from Ruby. Weiss was left confused.

"How do you know?" Yang wrapped an arm around the dark woman, tilting her head to one side.

"Well, she's my girlfriend, of course! Didn't you know that, Weiss?" Weiss shot a glance at Ruby. Apparently, this wasn't news to her. The white-clad woman fixed Blake with a glare.

"Well, apparently _someone_ didn't see it fit to tell me."

"I was getting around to it." Blake replied in a monotone, though she looked slightly ashamed. When they got back to their dorm that night, Weiss put her hands on her hips. Blake met the heiress's angry gaze with her own calm one.

"I was going to tell you." Blake began before Weiss cut her off.

"Blake, I don't like secrets. I'll tell you that right now. So if you've got anything else you're holding back, I'd like to know."

"That's all there is." Blake replied, almost too quickly. Weiss folded her arms, but didn't press her any further.

Of course, it didn't end there.

It began with Cardin. The stupid bully was always pushing everyone around, and was bound to stir up something one way or another. When walking to lunch one day, Weiss encountered the brawny boy pulling on a faunus's ears. Weiss opened her mouth to object to the behavior when she was beaten to the punch by Ruby.

"You leave Velvet alone!" In a flash of rose petals, the brunette was by the faunus's side, and Weiss remembered that Velvet was one of the upperclassmen Ruby had been talking about the other day. Cardin sneered at the magician. He had never really forgiven Ruby for the alley incident, and seeing her defending his latest victim had obviously struck a nerve.

"Yeah? Why should I, weirdo?" He shot back. "She's just a filthy faunus like all the rest of her kind. Maybe if I pull hard enough, these ears will come off and she can finally stop being such a freak-" Cardin was cut off by a choked gasp as Ruby punched him in the stomach. He collapsed like a house of cards. Weiss was surprised to see Ruby give in to her temper so easily. Seeing Ruby so angry was somewhat scary.

Before the fight could escalate, Professor Port shuffled over, hands in the air.

"Stop fighting, you two! Your behavior is most abominable. Brawling in the hallways! I'll see you two after school today for detention. Feel lucky that I did not make your punishment worse!"

As they filed into the lunchroom, Velvet thanked Ruby profusely, then went to go sit with her teammates.

"You shouldn't have done that." Weiss scolded as they sat down at their lunch table. "Even if he did deserve it." Ruby frowned.

"I know, but I hate seeing anyone get treated like that! Cardin's a stupid bully and stupid bullies need to be taught a lesson."

"Whoa, what happened?" Yang asked as she and Blake sat down, the latter with a book in her hand.

"Ruby punched Cardin for picking on someone." Weiss explained. Ruby still didn't look very ashamed.

"I can't believe he would do something like that! I wonder why he hates the faunus so much?" Ruby asked. Weiss huffed.

"His family's probably had a run-in with the White Fang. Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." The White Fang was a group that opposed anti-faunus discrimination in the workplace. At least, that was what they were originally. As time and the Grimm virus progressed, the organization became more radical. They had descended into violent protests, and some of the more unbalanced members were working on a way to spread the Grimm virus to faunus to form some sort of master race. Most would agree that the White Fang were no good, but something about Weiss's tone made Blake look up.

"That's not necessarily true." Weiss's eyes widened.

"You aren't seriously defending them? They're basically a terrorist group."

"I'm just saying not everything is as black and white as you make it seem." Blake replied, her usual monotone beginning to break.

"You do realize that those faunus have killed for their crazy cause? They're nothing but a bunch of degenerates." Blake slammed her book down on the table.

"Ugh! You're such an ignorant little brat!" With that, Blake stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria, the rest of team RWBY following her.

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><p><strong>I hope you all have a very happy new year, whether 2014 has been good to you or not. Stay safe! Leave a review if you're so inclined, or if there's anything I messed up on.<strong>

**As always, thank you for reading and have a great day.**


	9. The breaking point

**As always, I'm blown away by the amount of support I've gotten for this story! You're all amazing. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>Blake and Weiss spent the next day at each others' throats. Both women were proving to be more stubborn than anyone had previously thought. Weiss obstinately refused to budge on her status that the White Fang were all awful people, and Blake wouldn't let that slide. During chemistry, they sat on either side of Ruby, glaring daggers at each other while the brunette dutifully took the notes they were too angry to take.<p>

At lunch that day, the two were giving each other the silent treatment, with Yang and Ruby exchanging worried glances across the table. Then Weiss made a snide comment while Ruby was attempting to engage her in conversation, and the whole thing started up again. Team JNPR gave them questioning looks until Ruby explained the whole ordeal to them during the last class of the day.

"So that's what Weiss and Blake are so upset about?" Jaune asked, his head tilted to one side. Ruby nodded glumly.

"I'm afraid so. I don't know what to do to get them to start talking to each other again." Ruby replied morosely.

"I know!" Nora exclaimed in her usual buoyant fashion. "You could make a tower of pancakes, and whoever eats the most wins the argument! Loser gets fired into the sun!" Everyone fell silent for a moment while Nora sat back, looking pleased with herself.

"You'll have to excuse her." Ren explained. "She had too much syrup on her pancakes at lunch."

"I don't even know how she got them to serve pancakes at lunch..." Jaune muttered under his breath. Pyrrha, who hadn't uttered a word yet, took the opportunity to put in her two cents.

"I think they should both put aside their disagreements and find some way to be okay with each others beliefs. They're going to have to now, anyways. Aren't they roommates?" Ruby gasped.

"I totally forgot about that! I hope they make up soon..." Ruby trailed off, looking worried.

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><p>Ruby's wish was not granted, however, and later that night, someone came knocking on Ruby and Yang's door. The magician went to open it and found a furious and obviously upset Blake carrying her bookbag, a duffel bag, and a pillow.<p>

"Hi, Blake! What are you-"

"Weiss kicked me out." Ruby couldn't think of any response to that except to usher the dark woman inside, where Yang had joined her in her anger.

"She WHAT?!" Yang was almost spitting fire at this point. "When I get my hands on her-she has no right to-What was she thinking? What happened?" Yang's tone softened as she noticed that Blake was close to tears. The blonde brawler sat down on her bed, and Blake sat next to her.

"I said something I shouldn't have..." Blake mumbled, amber eyes firmly fixed on her pillow, unwilling to look at the sisters. Yang patted her on the back, uncharacteristically gentle.

"It's okay...What did you say?" Yang asked as Ruby sat down on the opposite side of the scientist.

"I was mad, I shouldn't have said it. I really didn't mean it. My temper just got the better of me and I..." Blake was beginning to ramble at this point, and Ruby grew more and more concerned as she went on. She had never seen Blake this upset before, and the sudden break in character worried her.

"Weiss said that many suffered at the hands of the White Fang as a result of them targeting so many large corporations...And I said..." Blake took a shaky breath, her composure lost. "I said that they probably deserved it." With that, Blake dropped her pillow and buried her face in her hands. Yang pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Blake." Yang said in a soothing voice. Ruby sat there, unsure of what to do or say. Eventually, Blake pulled away from Yang, tear tracks visible on her face before she wiped them away.

"I didn't really know where else to go. I'm sorry for bursting in on you like this." Blake's composure was already returning, the tremble in her voice all but gone.

"Don't worry about it, Blake!" Ruby chirped. "You can take my bed, it's no problem really." Blake still looked doubtful.

"Are you sure?" Ruby nodded vigorously.

"Positive! You make yourself comfortable."

Yang and Ruby did their best to make Blake feel better over the next few minutes, with many hugs and words of comfort, though Ruby felt somewhat out of place. Yang was obviously better at this stuff, and she just felt like she was getting in the way. After a while, Blake mentioned something that caught Ruby's attention in a big way.

"One of you should probably go check on Weiss..." She suggested, a guilty look crossing her face. Yang huffed.

"Why? So she can be rude to us, too? No thank you."

"She looked pretty upset when she kicked me out..." Blake replied, gaze flicking from Yang to Ruby.

"I'll do it!" The magician offered. Yang gave her a dubious look.

"Really? You want to go cheer up the ice princess? The one who hates you?" Ruby nodded, already walking towards the door with a paper rose in hand.

"Don't worry about it! I'll have her back to her old bossy self in no time! Blake, feel better, okay?" With that, Ruby left, sprinting towards Weiss's dorm in a hurry.

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><p>When Ruby knocked on the door, she was met with a quiet,<p>

"Go away." Ruby knocked again, more insistently. This time, her efforts gained her a more vehement "Leave me alone!" Ruby was not to be deterred, however, and knocked a third time, calling out,

"Weiss, it's me, Ruby! Open up, please!"

"Ruby?" For a moment, the youngest Rose thought that she heard a trace of hopefulness in her name, before being shot down again. "Ruby, go back to your dorm. I don't want to see anyone." Ruby pouted, even though she knew Weiss couldn't see her.

"Come on, Weiss! I was sent here to cheer you up, and I'll sit out here all night if I have to!" Ruby vowed. She could hear Weiss huff from behind the door.

"Then I guess you'll have to wait all night," was the angry reply. Ruby sat outside the door for a full minute before Weiss spoke again.

"Ruby? Are you still there?"

"Yup!" She replied cheerily. Ruby heard a long sigh from behind the door.

"Okay. Come in." The door opened, and Ruby walked inside before Weiss could change her mind, wrapping the heiress up in a big hug. "Ruby Rose! I did not invite you inside to manhandle me like some animal! Let me go!" The eldest Schnee protested, though she didn't struggle. Ruby giggled.

"Nope! I know you're upset, so I'm going to hug you until you feel better!" She tightened her grip. "Is it working?" When Weiss didn't instantly reply with 'No,' Ruby's smile widened. Then, remembering what Blake had said, she frowned slightly. "I'm sorry about what Blake said to you." Ruby felt the heiress stiffen in her arms, and hastily continued with, "She's really sorry, too! I don't think she meant it. You've both been really mad these past few days and it was only a matter of time before one of you said something you regretted."

Weiss pulled away, turning her back to Ruby. "I'm surprised someone like her stooped so low as to say sorry. She couldn't even be bothered to come here herself, I see." Ruby's face fell.

"Come on, Weiss. That's not fair. She really is sorry-"

"Do you know what the White Fang has done to my family? To me?" Ruby fell silent as Weiss whirled around, anger visible on her face. It seemed that the heiress was only just getting started.

"For years, my family has had a target painted on its back. Ever since I was little, I've seen family members disappear...board members, executed...an entire train full of oil, stolen."

"Weiss, I-" Ruby began, before Weiss cut her off again.

"No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss's voice broke on the last word, and she sank to the floor, tears running down her face. In a flash, Ruby was next to her, pulling her into another hug. Weiss didn't try to pull away this time, instead pulling Ruby closer as she cried into her shoulder.

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><p>Yang was still comforting Blake when her scroll buzzed.<p>

"It's Ruby. Apparently she's spending the night at your dorm with Weiss." Blake looked puzzled.

"Why?" The dark woman inquired. Yang shrugged.

"I guess she didn't feel comfortable leaving her on her own." Blake groaned, burying her face in her pillow.

"This is all my fault." She mumbled, her words muffled by the pillow. Yang patted her on the back again.

"Hey. No it's not. This will all look better in the morning, I promise. If anyone can melt the ice princess, it's Rubes." Glancing at her scroll again, Yang added, "It's late. We should get some sleep. We can sort this whole thing out tomorrow." Blake looked distant.

"Tomorrow..." She trailed off as Yang walked over to her own bed, shutting off the light. "Yang, there's something else I told Weiss. Something important."

"Blake, you need sleep. You can tell me in the morning."

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><p>Weiss had fallen asleep while Ruby was hugging her, which, while it was the cutest thing in the world to the magician, also meant that the eldest Schnee must be exhausted, so Ruby picked her up and tucked her into her bed(though not before placing a paper rose with the words 'feel better' on the heiress's open palm). By the time Ruby woke up the next morning, Weiss was already awake and dressed.<p>

"Oh, good! You're up!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping out of bed. "We can go see Blake and Yang together now so you can resolve your argument." Weiss gave Ruby a strange look.

"You really think Blake will apologize?" Weiss asked, the expression on her face indicating that she thought it was doubtful. Ruby nodded.

"Absolutely! She seemed really upset yesterday about what she said. I don't think she meant it."

"Hold on. You don't think she meant it?" Ruby was confused by Weiss's tone.

"I don't think I understand..." The scythe-wielder trailed off, unsure of where Weiss was going with this.

"Ruby. Did Blake tell you all of what she said last night?" Weiss asked, fixing the magician with an intent glare.

"I think so...She said she told you she thought the people and corporations hurt by the White Fang deserved it."

"Then did she also tell you she's a member of the White Fang?"

Ruby's brain, which was running at a mile a minute, stopped dead. Like clockwork, her scroll began to vibrate, and when her senses came back to her, she fumbled for the instrument and answered the call.

"Ruby, I need you and Weiss to get down here right now!" Yang's panicked voice flooded from the scroll, and it took Ruby a moment to fully comprehend the meaning of her words.

"What is it, Yang?"

"Blake's missing!"

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><p><strong>And that wraps up this chapter of Conjuring up smiles! I'm posting it a little early because the updating schedule is going to get a bit dicey for the next few weeks. Midterms are coming up, and I've got a lot of studying to do, so I'm either going to have to skip a week or post a few chapters that are a bit shorter than usual. I hope you guys understand. As always, leave a review if you're so inclined or if there's anything I messed up on in the story.<strong>

**Thank you for reading and have a great day.**


	10. A friend and a search party

**I managed to find a little time to type out a chapter for you guys, but it may not be as long as you're accustomed to. For that, I am sorry. School can be pretty crazy! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next chapter of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>Ruby and Weiss dashed over to meet Yang at her dorm as soon as possible. The brawler had worked herself into a fit by the time they arrived, and was a complete mess. Her shirt was on backwards, her hair was in a knotted mess, and she was still wearing her pajama pants. Her normally bright eyes had a wild look to them, and she was rambling nonstop.<p>

"I'm so glad you guys are here! I just woke up and she was gone and I checked outside and called team JNPR and they haven't seen her either and I thought maybe she had gone back to Weiss's dorm and she didn't and...Oh god, she said she had something to tell me last night and I just brushed it off and that was probably why she went away!" Yang was essentially panicking at this point, and Ruby pulled her down to sit on the bed.

"Yang. Look at me." It wasn't often Yang acted like this, so Ruby knew she must really be worried. Usually the blonde brawler was the one calming her younger sibling. On occasion, however, Yang would get so angry or so worried or so upset that she needed Ruby's help, so at this point the magician knew what to do. "This isn't your fault, okay? None of this is your fault. You didn't know she would run away. Don't worry. We're going to find her." Yang's breathing slowed and the fire behind her eyes died down slightly as Ruby talked, and once her little sister was finished, she smiled shakily and swept her into a hug.

"Thanks, sis. I'm just really worried, you know?" Yang muttered as she let go, standing up. Ruby nodded.

"I know you are. Come on, let's go get your girlfriend!" After some coercing from Weiss, Yang made herself a little more presentable and the three set off.

"I've already called the school library, and they haven't seen her at all, so that rules out most of the school grounds. The library's the only place she'd be anyways." Yang explained. Ruby nodded thoughtfully.

"By that logic, she's probably downtown. Let's start there." Ruby suggested, whirling around and making for the streets of Vale with her teammates in hot pursuit.

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><p>They decided to check her old haunts first-Places like the library where she worked, a tea shop tucked away in a secluded corner of the city, and a small bookstore run by a friendly faunus with sideburns and a wide smile. They didn't have any luck until checking the cafe where she went on her first date with Yang, where the owner said Blake had visited earlier with another faunus.<p>

"Well, at least we know she's not alone! That has to be good." Ruby pointed out as they exited the establishment.

"Unless she's meeting up with her friends in the White Fang." Weiss muttered. The heiress had been mostly quiet during their search, and usually only piped up to make the odd disgruntled comment. Ruby frowned.

"Come on, Weiss, she's our teammate, and our friend! We have to-oof!" Ruby had turned to look at Weiss, and as a result plowed directly into an innocent pedestrian, sending them both tumbling to the ground. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Ruby apologized as she got back on her feet, offering a hand to the stranger, who wore a gray dress with suspenders and bore a large pink bow to tie back her bright orange hair.

"Salutations!" The strange girl greeted the three, jumping to her feet and grasping Ruby's hand. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!" She continued, shaking Ruby's hand enthusiastically.

"Hi Penny!" Ruby replied cheerily. "I'm Ruby, and this is Weiss and Yang!" Penny waved at the two with an oddly wide grin on her face. The two waved back, not sure what to make of this strange girl.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated. At this, the three girls exchanged a look.

"You already said that." Weiss pointed out. Penny appeared to be confused for a moment, her face going blank, before donning the unnerving smile again.

"So I did!" She stated, looking as though nothing odd had occurred.

"Well...Sorry for running into you!" Ruby apologized a final time before taking a step past Penny, adding, "Take care, friend!" She had barely taken two steps before Penny was in front of her again, a more intense expression on her face.

"What did you call me?" The strange girl leaned forward, and Ruby almost fell over again.

"I...I don't...What?" Ruby stuttered, unsure of what she had done.

"You called me friend! Am I really your friend?" Ruby shot a glance at Weiss and Yang, who were shaking their heads in a very concrete no. However, be it the goodness of her heart or the fact that she was caught off guard, Ruby replied with a hesitant,

"Uh...Sure! Why not?" Weiss and Yang both went pale as Penny smiled once again.

"Sensational! Then what are you doing, new friend?" The gray-clad girl inquired.

"We're looking for our friend. Have you seen her? The cafe owner said she was with a monkey faunus here earlier." Penny tilted her head to one side, processing the question.

"Wears black, carries a large knife resembling a cleaver, has cat ears?" Penny offered. Yang shook her head.

"I don't think so. Blake wears a bow..." Yang trailed off as everything clicked into place.

"She does like tuna a lot." Ruby mumbled.

"I'll help you find her!" Penny declared, grinning happily. "I'm good at finding things." Ruby didn't think Yang would have agreed if Penny hadn't seen Blake earlier, but as it was, they could use all the help they could get. With an extra person in tow, the incomplete team set off to find their missing teammate once more.

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><p>Within the next few minutes, they decided to split up. Ruby would go with Weiss and Yang would go with Penny, and they would meet up and switch partners in an hour. Ruby didn't mind at all being paired up with Weiss, but she wished the heiress wasn't so bitter about the whole ordeal.<p>

"Weiss, you're not helping!" Ruby complained after the fifth shop the magician had gone into alone. Weiss crossed her arms, huffing.

"Blake's a big girl, she can take care of herself." Ruby fixed the heiress with a piercing gaze.

"You don't mean that, Weiss. Even though you're mad at her, I know you care about her too." Weiss averted her gaze, still looking cold and angry.

"I don't like it when people lie to me, Ruby. Don't forget, you've lied to me too." She shot back. Ruby crossed her arms as well, mimicking Weiss's stance.

"Okay. So I've lied to you. So what?" The answer caught Weiss off-guard. "I'm a magician, Weiss." Ruby continued. "My entire job is basically lies, tricks, and farces. But if I didn't lie, I wouldn't get to make people smile as much as I do. Sometimes little lies are worth making people happy."

"Ruby Rose, are you insinuating that being in the White Fang is a small problem." Ruby shrugged.

"No, not really. I'm just saying she has her reasons. I mean, we were all a lot happier when we didn't know." Weiss turned her back to Ruby, still angry. In a flash of rose petals, Ruby appeared in front of her, holding out a paper rose. Weiss knocked it out of her hand. Ruby pulled another one out of her sleeve, which Weiss promptly tossed to the ground again. For the third time, the magician conjured another rose. The heiress smiled this time, and took it. The two continued their search, this time with a little more help from Weiss.

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><p>When they met up again, Penny was paired with Ruby and Weiss was paired with Yang. Penny was proving to be a better friend than Ruby had expected. According to Yang, she was very thorough with her searching, saying that she would do 'anything to find a friend of a friend.' Though odd, the red-clad girl couldn't say Penny was the worst person to befriend. This thought was only reinforced by their next excursion into another shop, where Penny learned that a monkey faunus had been seen stealing from an apple cart and making for the docks earlier.<p>

"Thank you so much!" Ruby called over her shoulder as they left the store, turning towards the docks. "So I guess we head...Oh no." A large cloud of black smoke billowed up into the sky above the docks. "We need to get there as fast as we can."

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><p><strong>Sorry there isn't too much action in this chapter! Expect a lot more fighting in the next one. As usual, leave a review if there's anything you want to see in the story or if there's anything I messed up on, and if any of you have tests of your own to study for, good luck!<strong>

**Thanks for reading and have a great day.**


	11. Fight at the docks

**I'm back! Thanks to everyone who stuck with me there, it's just been one thing after another. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, updates might be erratic, so I'm sorry in advance. Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter of Conjuring up smiles!**

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><p>"I don't think we thought this through very well." A monkey-tailed faunus delivered a swift kick to the stomach of a White Fang lackey, sending the attacker flying. Blake rolled her eyes as she brandished Gambol Shroud, scanning the advancing line of White Fang members.<p>

"That's the least of our worries right now, Sun." It was true. Blake had met Sun earlier that day, and due to the vulnerable emotional state she found herself in, had ended up telling him about her background in the terrorist organization. He had proven to be a good listener and a good friend, offering to help her investigate the docks to see if the White Fang was intercepting a shipment of Schnee Oil. For whatever reason, Blake had decided that if she could stop the White Fang from their raid, she could compensate for the years she fought for them. Sun, who was unable to resist the thought of a good fight, had tagged along, which was lucky, as there were many more members than she had expected to see.

Unfortunately, things didn't look good for the dynamic duo. They were surrounded at this point, and while your average White Fang member wasn't the most skilled with a weapon, sheer numbers posed a serious problem.

"Come on, guys. You don't want to fight us. We're all for faunus equality! Maybe forget about those guys I kicked a few seconds ago, and we can call it a draw." Sun coaxed, a winning smile on his face.

"A very appealing offer that I'll have to turn down." A voice dripping with sarcasm replied as someone new stepped out from behind a shipping container, a cane in his hand. This man wasn't donned in the usual White Fang garb, and didn't appear to be a faunus at all. He wore a gray bowler hat and had bright ginger hair that was parted to cover half of his face.

"I'm afraid you kids have stumbled across something bigger than a few stolen oil barrels, and we can't let you get away." The man continued, a sinister grin on his face. He raised the cane, the bottom popping open to reveal that it was not an ordinary walking stick. Blake barely registered this before Sun shoved her out of the way, the explosive ammunition from the cane barely missing them and colliding with a stray oil barrel. Said oil barrel promptly exploded, sending a fiery cloud of smoke billowing into the sky. Their attacker grimaced.

"So much for showmanship. That was a poor choice." Blake and Sun took the opportunity to turn tail and run, with their unknown assailant yelling, "Get them!" As they fled.

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><p>Weiss and Yang, as luck would have it, arrived at the shipyard before Ruby and Penny. They could hear yelling and gunfire as they approached, but couldn't dive directly into the fray. The docks were a labyrinth of shipping crates and oil barrels, which meant that they got turned around almost immediately. It wasn't long before they rounded a corner and almost got their heads blown off by a White Fang grunt that Yang promptly punched into a shipping container. Once they had confirmed that their attacker was unconscious, Yang exchanged a grim look with Weiss. If the White Fang was present, they might be fighting against Blake as well.<p>

They decided to tread more cautiously as they continued, and after a few more startling encounters with White Fang members, they located the source of the commotion. Blake and an unknown monkey faunus were fighting a horde of White Fang members. Weiss felt a brief moment of relief when she saw that Blake was fighting against the White Fang, but the relief was quickly extinguished by the need to help her teammate. However, Yang beat her to the punch.

Once she saw her girlfriend in trouble, the blonde brawler seemed to glow with determination, rushing forward into the fray. Weiss followed shortly after, and together the four of them managed to incapacitate the group with relative ease. Yang swept Blake up in a hug, but their celebration was short lived.

"Aw, how touching." An unknown voice crowed before the group was knocked off their feet by an explosion. Once the dust settled, they were met with the sight of a ginger man in a bowler hat pointing what appeared to be a cane flare gun at them.

"I won't miss twice, kiddos. Your move." Weiss's heart dropped as she noticed unmarked bullheads swooping down over the docks, dropping off more White Fang members. It seemed as though there was no hope.

"Hey! Leave them alone!" A familiar voice called out. Ruby stood atop a shipping crate, Penny at her side, with Crescent Rose unsheathed to her full glory. The man's condescending smile grew wider.

"Oh, hello, Red! It's good to see you again. Say, isn't it past your bedtime?" Weiss's eyes widened, first at the revelation that Ruby knew this man, and then again when he raised the cane above their heads. She looked up to see a shipping crate dangling from a crane above them. "Make a false move and you can say goodnight to your friends." Ruby looked from him to her friends, then disappeared in a flash of rose petals, sweeping the man off his feet with Crescent Rose. However, once he hit the ground, his cane arm swerved to face Weiss. He smirked at the heiress before pulling the trigger.

Everything moved far too quickly. There was another flash of rose petals, and Weiss felt herself being shoved out of the way. Then Ruby, who had suddenly appeared by her side, was blasted backwards into one of the shipping containers.

There was a beat of silence. Then Yang let out what sounded like a roar and dove for the man in the bowler, matching him blow for blow, cane against gauntlets. Penny conjured swords from nowhere, and to the shock and awe of the group, pulled two airships out of the sky, slicing one cleanly in half before running off at the honk of a car horn from the streets above.

The rest of the battle passed in a blur. With so many against him, their unknown assailant with the cane disappeared as quickly as he had appeared onto one of the remaining airships, and before the remaining White Fang could lay a blow on the students, the police arrived. But Weiss didn't care about any of that. She had rushed over to Ruby before the battle ended, and in the shock and panic of the whole matter, she couldn't tell whether the magician was even breathing or not.

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><p><strong>A short chapter, I know. Sorry about that. Hopefully I'll have more time for the next one. As always, leave a review if you want or if there's anything you want to tell me about the story.<strong>

**As always, thank you for reading and have a great day.**


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